Bring Back Rectangular Tabs

[Basic204]

Please give us a permanent option to disable the rounded tabs in Firefox 157.

The new Nova tab design is visually distracting, wastes space, and is simply worse for users who prefer the clean, rectangular tabs Firefox had before. I should not have to dig into about:config or maintain a custom userChrome.css just to get a basic interface choice back.

If Mozilla wants rounded tabs as the default, fine. Give users a setting to turn them off permanently.

Firefox has always been about giving users control. Please apply that principle to the UI too.

Please note UI changes just stop with that Firefox looked fine. Focus on just making the brower faster. 

Also stop with the **bleep** rounded everything. I really hate it or at least give me an option to shut it off and not deal with your oh this UI looks cool stuff. 

[ciaran]

I agree, I find the rounded tabs too finicky. A lot of the design changes in this update are very strange. I've always liked that firefox didn't look exactly like chrome, edge, and all the other hyper-modern garbage browsers.

[dftf]

Make sure to follow the steps AstrobotNautics has posted here to undo the rounded tabs

[AstrobotNautics]

It was for sure copy and pasted from your post 😂 Kudos to you dftf. Pretty sure you were the first person to post it on this forum.

[Achi]

I’ve been a Firefox user since the very first version; if the rectangular tabs don’t come back, I don’t plan to keep using it.
It is one of the most horrible things I’ve ever seen in interface design.

[dftf]

Look at the reply from AstrobotNautics on this post and follow their steps

[JIGSAW]

+1 Im not a fan of this "Nova" redesign 👎

[dftf]

Follow the steps AstrobotNautics posted above to undo it

[JIGSAW]

I've done that before even posting here. The reason I actually posted was for the Dev to see we're not happy and they must make a toggle switch, because there's already rumours that the about:config entry will be removed .... then it's back to userchrome options again 😠

[dftf]

" ... then it's back to userchrome options again 😠"

---

Mozilla: "Hmm, we must end support for userChrome.css in future too..." 🤔

You: 😡😡😠😠😡😡😭😭

[CQA]

They're somehow simultaneously making the interface too cluttered, while wasting lots of space. The text in the tabs feels like it barely fits now because the oval-shaped tabs squeeze it at the edges. This is just bad design. There is nothing wrong with rectangles, they're the most space-efficient. Why not let the users choose how rounded their tabs are?

What's next? Making the tabs into circles? Making them concave? Where does this end?

[dftf]

The next one will be a flat bar with literal flags:

🇺🇸 Google search   X   🏁 Formula 1   X   🎌 Learn Japanese with ...   X   🏴‍☠️ Best FREE movies ...    X

🤣

[jus_dave]

Yeah, whilst I make my account to complain about the curved tabs, the other stupid move is "Split Tabs", what exactly is their use because it is just junk!

[AstrobotNautics · Accepted solution]

I literally created an account on this forum, which I have not done in the 15 or so years I've had Firefox, to say this exact thing. 

I just found this post in the release forum, and it reverts back to the old tab look:

In the address bar, type about:config , then press ENTER
Accept any warning
Search for nova
Double-click on "browser.nova.enabled" to change it to "false"

[gogogodzilla]

Thank you! The oval tabs were incredibly distracting.

[jus_dave]

Snap, me too. But I don't think anyone will listen.

[nevernow]

Thanks. But also is tab edge shapes all Nova is about? I am a Firefox daily-driver user since it was called Firebird, but at this point, sadly, I'm thinking it needs to die. $700 million a year for this.

[AstrobotNautics]

If Firefox dies, so does the only browser that provides a true alternative to Chromium-based browsers. Firefox is important, it's not just a browser, it's Mozilla's own browser based on their Gecko Engine. Firefox and Gecko are the baseplate for so many browser alternatives. We need competitors, else we lose one more freedom of the internet that has been around for so long; choice. 

What we must hope, is Mozilla doesn't sell out to an Ai or tech corp for a few quick bucks. We must also hope, they can continue to fund themselves somehow. It's a tricky balance. 

I'm sure if we see people flock away from Gecko based browsers to Chromium based ones because of a design choice, we will see Mozilla panic at their decending graph. And I'm certain many Firefox alternatives will push back if Mozilla threaten to make Nova the only tabs choice. Proton and Photon are well loved designs in alternative browser landscapes, provided Gecko doesn't somehow become incompatible with them, I'm sure browser alternatives like Waterfox and Floorp will have them in their stack if Firefox drops them. 

[usernameishard2]

Thank you for this! Hopefully they go back to this or at least have a "Nova opt out" option. If they take this configuration away, I'm pretty sure a lot of loyal users will be leaving FF to use another browser.

[DiamondTiki]

I also just created an account on this forum, which I also hadn't done in what's probably more than a decade, for this reason - this rounding is just such astoundingly terrible UI compared to the previous. Literally obliterates the main UI purpose of displaying you information.

Thank you.

[RectangleTabBac]

I just did the same thing, PLEASE let us have rectangle as an option 

[Tykero]

Waterfox has this as a simple and accessible settings option. Why is this too hard for Mozilla? 

Seeing them side-by-side really solidifies how awful the Nova style UI is compared to Photon. 

[dftf]

The issue will be that nearly-every Firefox developer will use a Mac, where the UI looks normal.

Look at all the recent videos put-out on the Firefox and Mozilla channels on YouTube about this new UI: in every-single one I've seen, they always have screenshots or video of the macOS version.

But having tabs as one flat line with only the active one inside a circle isn't the norm on Windows, or most Linux DEs.  They need to appreciate not everyone uses macOS.  It's the same issue the "Arc" team had when porting to Windows; they'd based everything around macOS, as that's all anyone in the office used.

[jus_dave]

I’ve reached the point where I’m taking direct action against unwanted UI changes on my own computer. I’m designing software that can expose a desktop GUI as an API, so users can control and customise the interfaces they actually want.
I’m tired of companies repeatedly changing established interfaces with little or no meaningful way to opt out. UI changes are not harmless cosmetic tweaks for everyone. What consideration is being given to users who rely on assistive technologies, custom workflows, muscle memory, or accessibility adaptations built around an existing interface?

[AstrobotNautics]

Floorp has Nova disabled by default
Waterfox has a check box in settings to change to older UI tab interfaces. 
Hopefully the original UI tab versions won't be removed in subsequent updates.

[Szymon]

Removal is already planned, so ...

https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=2071454

[usernameishard2]

They might be "planning" to, but I doubt they will.

[dftf]

---

@Szymon wrote:

Removal is already planned, so ...

---

Well, it's planned to be removed from the Firefox codebase, yes.  But other "forks" of Firefox could choose not to remove it from their codebases, or merge it back in. OR they could decide to move to the latest "ESR" codebase, which predates Nova, and rebase off that.

Brave is still supporting Manifest v2 for a handful of extensions, despite it now being removed from the Chromium codebase (so no Mv2 support now in Chrome, Edge, Opera and Vivaldi).

[roodypoo]

The new UI is actual cancer.

[YeenoBabino]

I'm autistic, and it stresses me out when platforms make unnecessary design changes with no way to revert them. I want the rectangle tabs back, or at least an option to change them for people like me that aren't programmers.

[jus_dave]

Me too and that is why I'm taking direct action with this sort of thing, the plan is to make a command line interface/API which uses the commands to match up with the GUI with AI inference. Then developers can use the API to interface their accessibility interfaces.

[dftf]

For now, the steps AstrobotNautics posted in the "accepted solution" will undo them

[zombieman]

What I want are rectangular tabs with clear visual distinction even between inactive tabs below the address bar. UI has been going downhill since "Australis" came on the scene... IMHO... Australis, Photon, Proton and from what I've seen on screenshots Nova, all increasingly making it worse. While people are highlighting an about:config switch Mozilla tend to have a "dark pattern" in implementing big UI changes and also often removing "temporary switches" to disable UI changes between ESR releases meaning people who like STABLE versions often don't get the opportunity to turn the UI off when it lands for them... How long will that switch remain available??

[Ogan]

I’ve been using Firefox for decades. I agree with you.

The new tab design is so terrible that I even went out of my way to create an account just to leave a comment.

Why does a tab have a rounded, standalone design? A tab is supposed to be “part of the page.” This new design is something completely different that just happens to function as a tab. It feels as out of place as if a green onion were growing where my right hand should be. This isn’t a matter of getting used to it. It’s become something entirely different. It’s clearly a flawed design.

Even if I choose my words carefully, I can’t help but think it’s “ridiculous.” Honestly, whether they’re stacked vertically or arranged horizontally, this rounded shape is simply unacceptable.

I cannot fathom why anyone would come up with such a pointless idea, nor why this tab design was approved. If you intend to continue with this approach, I’ll have to be prepared to abandon Firefox.

[AstrobotNautics]

I do find it odd how, for years we've been able to customise the colour of our tabs, even get themes with pictures behind them, and yet no theme has changed the actual look of the tab. The closest thing we've had it Waterfox's ability to switch between Photon, Proton and now Nova looks, but why not let themes adjust how the tabs look too... Would be cool, especially because it would give browser forks more control over their base appearance. 

[ABMS1984]

type this in your "userChrome.css":

/* Firefox 157 – alle Rundungen entfernen */
:root {
--tab-border-radius: 0px !important;
}

* {
border-radius: 0 !important;
}

[usernameishard2]

I will never understand why companies insist on making changes no one asked for. If they want to change or update something, all they have to do is put out a questionnaire or ask the community directly. Doing things like this, especially when no one asked for it AND without an opt out/toggle off option, will eventually make customers leave. I have using Google Chrome and other browsers, and I have been using FF for years, but I will if I have to if this doesn't get fixed. The neon look of the tabs is an eyesore, and when being on a device already gives people migraines, that makes it worse. For those who don't yet know, use the Proton Theme for now to get rid of the weird neon outline on the bubble tabs if you don't like it. Also, we should not have to input some weird configuration into the address bar just to opt out of or revert back to the old tabs. With as technologically advanced as we are now compared to even ten years ago, there is NO excuse for things like this to happen. Apps do it constantly, websites do it constantly, and now it seems browser companies are doing it - yet no one thinks to ASK the community of loyal users BEFORE they want to update, upgrade, or change anything? Have they not learned anything about the backlash that social media companies get on a regular basis for changing things without asking the community - the people who actually use the platforms - what THEY want? Companies are really starting to have an ego, and it's going to get them shut down eventually; whether it takes days, weeks, months, or years, it will happen. And then what? Lost money/income, lost users, lost everything. Is it really worth losing everything just for a short-term gain? The answer should always be "No". You don't screw over your loyal user base just because YOU think (or the team) that whatever "upgrades" you think are "cool". Do better FireFox.

[iensenfirippu]

I agree with the original post: Add whatever you want by default, but ALWAYS give people a proper way to opt out. Even if that option is just installing a different official theme.

Overall, I think the new design probably looks, mostly fine... if it wasn't for the rounded edges. So I will keep it turned off, for as long as I can.

I have given it exactly zero chance, which isn't really fair of me, but someone at Mozilla should have known that the extreme rounding would be polarizing. I doubt most people would be posting in here if there was an option to use the new design without the rounded edges.

I don't want Firefox to stagnate, or be afraid to try new stuff due to fear of community backlash. And I don't want my own personal preferences to dictate what Mozilla can add to their browser.

But I do want Firefox to succeed and be able to regrow market-share, and Mozilla needs to realize that alienating large portions of their current users isn't the way to do it.

Your users are using your browser, because they don't want the alternative, don't try so hard to imitate the alternatives.